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If You Count Your Chickens Before They've Hatched, They Won't Lay An Egg

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I like my careers to be quite fluid, so there's no self-imposed rules or any particular challenges I'd like to attempt. However, I will start off at the lowest level possible, unemployed with 'Sunday League' experience, and will look to play as realistically as possible, climbing my way up the football management ladder. Attribute masking will be on, I don't use add-ons or the player search to find players, and I trust my scouts (no matter how rubbish they are!). As a Liverpool supporter, it's difficult for me to manage certain rival teams, so don't expect to see me in the hot-seat at Everton or Man Utd. And as I live on the South Coast of England, I would definitely favour a job from one of my local teams if it became available.

Newly promoted to the Blue Square South, this is a team with a lot of work to do. I inherit a squad of just 17 players, with only two of which are on proper part-time contracts. There is absolutely no backroom staff, even though I'm pretty sure Sky Sports commentator, Martin Tyler, is a first team coach here in real life. So my task is clear, remodel the entire structure of the club, and hope that we survive our first season in the BSS. We're predicted to finish bottom, which is not surprising due to our minuscule squad, but if I can work a bit of magic in the transfer market, I could see us scraping survival. To be honest, I'm not hoping for much more, as I can see us being whipping-boys until I've established a first team squad. First things first though, I'm going to need to find an assistant manager, and then a scout, and then hope to attract a few decent players to a very fashionable area of Greater London.

I don't know why, but I always feel like Kingstonian should be the name of a Scottish team. Anyone else know what I mean? ...Anyone?

Originally Posted by cerud

Looking forward to it AK22. I'm managing Staines in the BSS right now and doing decent. A newly promoted club should still be able to complete well.

Thanks for all the comments

Survival is the only aim this season, I'll be extremely happy with 19th.

I'm planning on getting a lot more immersed into this save than my previous ones. I'm going to be watching more game action than usual, analysing more stats, and will try to become a lot more tactically aware. I feel that the new FM12 interface will make this a lot easier too. Due to this, I've only played the one competitive game so far, a 1-1 draw away to Staines (coincidence Cerud?!). A game which we took the lead, had a player sent off, only for them to equalising in stoppage time. A bit frustrating, but still, the first point is on the board.

And yes, iseemonsters1, I can kind of see where you are coming from on the Scottish name front...

Super keen to follow your save from the start this time, catching up on your 11 career was the biggest mission Fingers crossed you can evade relegation this year, but based on your efforts with Thurrock I'm picking a mid-table finish

Super keen to follow your save from the start this time, catching up on your 11 career was the biggest mission Fingers crossed you can evade relegation this year, but based on your efforts with Thurrock I'm picking a mid-table finish

Wow, it was a lot harder than I anticipated to string some kind of squad together. After further inspection, we have the third lowest wage bill in the league (only Bromley and St. Albans are lower), so it's going to be a tough season. At least the board recognises this fact!

My game-plan here was to buy experienced seasoned-pros, and boy, experience did I buy! It seems I raided the local nursing home to sign a 40 year old Frank Sinclair, who's still got just enough quality to play BSS football. In addition to Ol' Frank, 37 year old defender Steve Foster, 'keeper Nathan Abbey, and former-Crazy Gang member Carl Cort, all joined the over-30's club. Unfortunately, due to lack of resources, I've only been able to sign twelve new players. This gives me a pretty decent first eleven, but worryingly thin squad depth. I'm just praying for an injury-free season, otherwise I'm going to have to depend on some of the cack that I inherited on my arrival. All the players have signed one-year deals, which suits me nicely at this stage. At least any flops can be moved on quickly and without much compensation.

Tactical Outlook

As being one of the favourites for relegation, my main aim is to make us tough to beat. This way, we should be able to string together a few draws where we were predicted to lose, all vital points which will help to ensure our survival.

This is my initial formation and team instructions:

Nothing too fancy here at all. My defence is on the slow side, and I don't want them exposed to pacey attacks, so I don't want a high defensive line either. The 4-5-1 should help us to maintain possession, and make it difficult for the opposition to attack through the centre of the pitch. Due to the lack of obvious talent, I've restricted creative freedom and roaming, to make sure they don't try anything too ambitious. All I want them to do is pass the ball to the front three, and for one of them to try and get a shot on target. You never know, one of them might go in every now and again!

Sorry AK, having had a great save on FM09 with AFC Wimbledon, I'll have to stick with my loyalties! Seriously though, good luck. I enjoyed your FM11 save and no doubt I'll enjoy this too.

Interesting that you've chosen the 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation. A lot of people are seeming to go for that now. I guess I'm just a football purist as I tend to stick with the 4-4-2/4-1-3-2...or I'm just predictable!

Good luck - its a good formation at this level of the game. I started using it after taking over at Boston and found it most handy - you need to make sure you have one hell of a good striker though as my AML/R's don't chip in with too many.

Sorry AK, having had a great save on FM09 with AFC Wimbledon, I'll have to stick with my loyalties! Seriously though, good luck. I enjoyed your FM11 save and no doubt I'll enjoy this too.

Interesting that you've chosen the 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation. A lot of people are seeming to go for that now. I guess I'm just a football purist as I tend to stick with the 4-4-2/4-1-3-2...or I'm just predictable!

Originally Posted by Azeryk`

Good luck - its a good formation at this level of the game. I started using it after taking over at Boston and found it most handy - you need to make sure you have one hell of a good striker though as my AML/R's don't chip in with too many.

You're right, 4-3-3/4-5-1 is very fashionable at the moment, but it is very dependant on having a strong striker who can score 20 goals a season. The traditionalist in me says that a club from England should play 4-4-2, but I just can't ever get it to work in FM. I think players 'playing in between the lines', such as defensive midfielders or attacking midfielders, tend to excel on the current match engine, and also add a touch of unpredictability to the side. Unfortunately, at the highest level in world football, 4-4-2 is on the way out. The majority of successful teams play a version of 4-5-1, or are at least comfortable to switch to this formation when things aren't working.

To be honest, I'm surprised how well we've done so far. We started off pretty averagely, scraping through matches 2-1 or 2-2, but to our credit, we didn't lose many, clinging on to secure vital points in several matches. The team unit really started to gel come November though, winning all but one match, which was enough to secure me Manager of The Month. We've also exceeded expectations in the cup competitions too, making the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, and securing our place in the 2nd Round of the FA Trophy.

Unfortunately, conceding goals in the final ten minutes has been our downfall, as we've let in nine of the 23 conceded in the final knockings of games. Also, an injury crisis has struck my first choice centre-back partnership, who have both just torn their hamstring, and are going to miss three months of action. Since this happened, my reasonably solid-looking defence has become very porous, letting in three goals per game. It could be a long old winter at this rate. At least it's all looking good for Blue Square South survival, but I very much doubt we'll maintain a promotion push, especially as my home ground has a terrible habit of water-logging, meaning that we now have a bit of a fixture pile-up to contend with in January.

Match of the Season: Kingstonian 3-1 Salisbury (Blue Square Bet South Playoff Final)We had a pretty abysmal winter period, only winning two matches of the twelve played in January and February. Amazingly, we still found ourselves in 7th position and still with a shout of making the playoffs or, even, automatic promotion. It's no coincidence that this poor run tied in with the most horrific injury crisis, where five first choice players found themselves on the treatment table. I always knew this would be the case though, as our squad is lacking depth, and was unlikely to cope well with any strain placed on it. However, we battled through this difficult period, recovering well in March, and putting together a nice little string of results at the end of April. Going into the final game of the season, we were sitting 2nd, one point behind leaders Hayes and Yeading, the team we were playing in that match. A win for either side would have seen them go up as champions. However, we could only muster up a draw, which allowed Dover to slip in the back door, and take the one automatic promotion place.

As with Hayes and Yeading, Farnborough and Salisbury, we would have to ride our luck through the playoffs. We comfortably beat Farnborough home and away in the semi-final, to set up a make-or-break tie against Salisbury in the final. As we had finished higher in the table, we were granted the luxury of playing the game at home. Our largest home crowd of the season saw a demotion job, where we scored three goals in four minutes either side of half time. The rest of the game was a mere formality, especially once Salisbury had been reduced to ten men with fifteen minutes to go. Against all odds, we had done it, and achieved promotion! The team predicted to finish bottom will be playing Blue Square Premier League football next season.

Another point of interest is that we had the best away record in the league, picking up 36 points on the road, but only the 11th best at home. We will need to do a lot better in front of our own fans next season if we're going to survive in the BSP though.

Finances aren't looking great, but would have been a lot worse if it hadn't been for our bonus playoff matches. The extra revenue from these games have just pushed us back into the black. The board have already announced the budgets for next season, where I will have an extra £1.9k per week to spend on wages (not a lot, I know!). We should get a bit of TV revenue next season too, which will help, and I'm hoping for an improvement in the attendances too. That being said, we had the 6th best attendance in the league this season, so I suppose our fan base isn't too bad all things considered. Boreham Wood only averaged 148!

Even with such a small squad, with everyone fit, we were more than a match for any side in this division. The emergence of Elvis Chio was the most pleasant of surprises, who after taking a while to break it into the first team, went on to become the second highest scorer in the league. Other players of note include Jason Marr, Stephen Radcliffe and Anthony Thomas, all of which were consistent performers across the season. I've got a big task ahead of me over the summer, with most player's contracts up for renewal, I need to decide quickly who will be able to cut the mustard at the higher level. Unfortunately, I fear that very few will deemed worthy of an extension, and with such a small wage budget, I can ill afford to carry anyone for sentimental reasons. I will, however, be securing the services of youngster Jack Boyce, the most promising of prospects to come though my youth intake.

Other News

An interesting season in the Premier League saw Liverpool win their first league title for 23 years. Whereas Arsenal finally saw sense, sacking Wenger after an 8th place finish. Meanwhile, England are making a pig-ear of their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign having lost away to Ukraine and at home to Poland. At the half way stage, they currently sit joint 3rd in their group, eight points behind the runaway leaders Ukraine.

Watching with intrest - Looking good for servival, how are your scouts doing finding your next batch of players?? - i am finding the CA dropoff is quite sudden for the older player in my save atm.

Cheers Adlain

Finding it trickier to find decent players capable of slotting straight into the first team. My scouts are unearthing lots of youngster with plenty of potential, but they are at least two seasons away from being first team regulars. I suppose there aren't many players between the ages of 22 and 30 who are unattached and willing to play BSS football.

I'm hoping that since achieving promotion, my board will be more willing for me to scout outside of the UK, even if it's just being able to visit France. I'm not banking on it though, my previous requests have been shot down in no uncertain terms!

Congrats on the promotion,looks like you've carried on your form from FM11

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Really well done winning promotion at the first attempt!

Thanks

This may sound a bit strange, but I don't think we really deserved promotion. We only totalled 73 points, hardly a lot for a 42 game season. We also only managed 32 points from our last 22 games too, which is not promotion form by any means! The BSS standard is pretty awful!

Ah well, I mustn't grumble though. I'm still very pleased to get promoted at the first attempt, although I'm expecting a lot tougher ride in the BSP next season

Yeah 73 points is surprisingly low! In fact I finished 9 points off top with 77 in my save, but then again you can only beat what's in front of you - it was probably just a particularly competitive season.

Yeah 73 points is surprisingly low! In fact I finished 9 points off top with 77 in my save, but then again you can only beat what's in front of you - it was probably just a particularly competitive season.

The top half of the table were only separated by 12 points, so it was a pretty competitive year. 77 points would have been enough to go up as champions this season!

Awsome AK, love following your threads. Brilliant on the promotion, looked like it would be a bit difficult but you pulled it off.
Good to see carl cort and frank sinclair worked out as they were alwasy going to be a gamble. I have found the older players do tend to do well as all they want to do is play football.
BSP here you come, make sure you do better than Rushden (RIP my beloved team)

Awsome AK, love following your threads. Brilliant on the promotion, looked like it would be a bit difficult but you pulled it off.
Good to see carl cort and frank sinclair worked out as they were alwasy going to be a gamble. I have found the older players do tend to do well as all they want to do is play football.
BSP here you come, make sure you do better than Rushden (RIP my beloved team)

Shame what happened to Rushden, had a great save on FM with them a few years ago. Managed to get them up to the Championship, so sort of got an affinity with them after that. Hopefully they can 'do a Wimbledon' and return to league football eventually.

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

Well done on winning promotion with grandfathers in your team.

Cheers Nobby. I'll treat them to a new Zimmer frame as reward for promotion

Shame what happened to Rushden, had a great save on FM with them a few years ago. Managed to get them up to the Championship, so sort of got an affinity with them after that. Hopefully they can 'do a Wimbledon' and return to league football eventually.

I started using them in management games from when i played Ultimate Soccer Manager 2 (my first and favourite management game). I once signed Vinnie Jones when i started in league 2 first season and he was released. Also the club with Simeon Jackson (now at Norwich) and i think he should play more. I always have a Rushden save and its part the reason why i haven't bought FM12 so far.
I hope for the Wimbledon thing for them aswell. I use Wimbledon on Fifa 12 just because they deserve to be in the premier league and i will get them there

Everyone expects us to finish bottom, and there's good reason for this too. With such a small wage budget, it's going to difficult to piece together a squad capable of performing consistently at this level (only AFC Telford have a lower wage bill than us). However, with a bit of luck, I've quietly confident that we'll avoid relegation, but back-to-back promotions is definitely not on the agenda as far as I'm concerned.

Asides from a handful of players, the majority of my ageing promotion-winning squad have been released, and a whole new batch of players have been signed up. I've brought in a new striker, Jordan Thewlis, who I hope should thrive in the lone-striker role. In midfielder, I've strengthened by bringing in holding-midfielder George Fotheringham and the creative Adam Forshaw. Shay McCartan is the other big salary signing, who will either play on the right-hand side of midfield or be Thewlis' back-up. As with last season, this all leaves me with a pretty tiny squad of just 18 players. Any injuries, and we'll be screwed, but at least I'll be able to give some of the under-18s a game or two then!

Tactical Outlook

This is my initial formation and team instructions:

Still the same formation as last season, but I've released the shackles ever so slightly, as creative freedom and roaming are back up to default levels. The reason behind this is mainly that my players are ever so slightly better than last season, so hopefully, they've got that extra intelligence needed to determine whether to use any flair they have or not. To be honest though, there are very few flair-players in the Blue Square leagues, so I can't imagine it will make too much difference either way. I was really pleased at how the 4-5-1 made us difficult to beat last season, so I will be looking for the same kind of results this term too.

Other News

Denmark won the Under-20's World Cup, beating Germany 3-1 in the final. Will be interesting to see if this team develop into world-beaters in the future.

Hi AK22, I'm enjoying reading your new save. Congratulations on winning promotion first time around. It will be interesting to see how you go in the BSP.
Quick question, how can you see each teams wage bill as it's something I'd like to do?

Hi AK22, I'm enjoying reading your new save. Congratulations on winning promotion first time around. It will be interesting to see how you go in the BSP.
Quick question, how can you see each teams wage bill as it's something I'd like to do?

Cheers I'm targeting 50 points, which should be easily enough to keep us up. 44 and 45 was enough in the previous two seasons, so getting 50 will allow us a little bit of leeway. Hopefully, the players I've got are good enough to get us there.

You can find the wage bill for each team in your league under the team stats page for the relevant league. It looks something like this. To be honest, I'm surprised clubs like Newport County are able to pay so much on wages without going bankrupt.

You can find the wage bill for each team in your league under the team stats page for the relevant league. It looks something like this. To be honest, I'm surprised clubs like Newport County are able to pay so much on wages without going bankrupt.

I didn't mean right away,if you feel like it at some point that would be cool.

I wouldn't rule it out altogether. I don't have Norway loaded at the moment, but that doesn't mean I won't load it in the future. Wouldn't mind a pop with Valerenga or Viking at some point

Originally Posted by MattSpurs94

In regards to your tactic, do you change strategy depending on your opponent or do you always leave it as standard?

Great start to your career, if it's anything like your last, then it should be awesome

Thanks Matt. I tend to start the majority of matches on standard mentality, and then adjust accordingly based on my assessment of the first 15 minutes of play. I watch key highlights, so I can get a pretty decent picture of how things are going myself, but will also look at Ass Man feedback too. In most Blue Square matches, the games are quite even, so I don't always adjust too much, but if I find we're struggling to gain a foothold, I might change to play on the counter. Or then go to control, if counter doesn't have the desired effect.

Quite regularly, we tend to dominate possession, but are unable to create many chances. To combat this, I'll go to a direct passing style, and may go to an attacking mentality too, just to make sure my players get the ball forward and have some attempts at goal

What a great start to the season we had. Sitting 3rd, and with 51 points on the board, I'm sure we've already done enough to secure another season in the BSP. Even though we sit comfortably in the playoff places at the moment, I don't really expect us to maintain this kind of form in the second half of the season, mainly due to the limitations of my squad. Any further success will heavily depend on if we can keep Jordan Thewlis in good form too. 17 league goals already, making him the topscorer in the BSP, is a more than decent return. If he continues in this vein, a top half finish is the very least we should be achieving. I've told the board this too, which gives me a bit extra in the wage budget, which I'll be using to bring in a couple of fresh faces.

Other News

Signor Capello's England reign has come to a very sticky end, having falling to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. An extremely disappointing qualifying campaign saw them finish 4th in their group behind Ukraine, Poland and Montenegro. Monsieur Wenger has been chosen by the English FA to be the new national team boss.

You never know rancer I've had no FM time this weekend though, real life getting in the way unfortunately, and delaying my progress somewhat!

Originally Posted by HotChocolate

Great first half to the season, lets hope you can carry that on into the 'squeaky bum time'

are you glad that you are out of both cups or not?

Thanks HotChocolate. I'm always in two minds when it comes to the cups. A good FA cup run can set the club up financially for two or three seasons, but the fixture congestion always then causes a bit of a headache. Actually, we were really unlucky in the FA Cup this season, losing out to League One side Oxford on penalties. So close to causing a 'cupset'!

I have just discovered your Career AK22. Excellent stuff - Clear, crisp and concise layout and one I am definitely going to follow.

I normally start 4-51 at the beginning of an LLM start simply because, as you say, it makes you hard to beat. Tweaks here and there and bingo. Though Kingstonian going up is brilliant

A few seasons of consolidation and who knows? Jordan Thewlis should score a bagful for you with those stats in the BSP.

Glad to have you following Daz I'm a major advocate of 4-5-1, definitely a good base to start with. Obviously, it works better with some teams than other, but I'm really satisfied about how well it's working with The K's.

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Excellent return from Thewlis, keep up the good work!

I'd be amazed if Thewlis doesn't earn BSP signing of the season. I knew he was going to be good, maybe a 20 goal a season striker, but I'm amazed that he's now on target for 30. Cue, torn hamstring now (hopefully not! )

Match of the Season: Kingstonian 3-1 Barnet (Blue Square Bet Premier Playoff Final)
Another pretty unbelievable season at Kingsmeadow. I don't think anyone can believe the fact we've achieved back-to-back promotion, and to be honest, I've even surprised myself. I never expected us to be challenging at the top of the table come the end of the season, but we near enough maintained a consistent 3rd position for the whole second half of the season. We did have a couple of small blips throughout the course of the year, including a period of fives games in February where all we could do is draw. We also had our fair share of bad luck when it came to games being called off. At one stage, we had four games in hand, due to the amount of matches postponed because of detrimental weather conditions. Fortunately, the squad held up this year, and we managed to maintain a steady level of performance, keeping us in the playoff places right up to the very end. No-one was ever going to catch Wrexham at the top of the table though. They led from start to finish, finishing the season with a commanding 17 point advantage.

So, for the second season in a row, we would be challenging in the playoffs. But this time for League football status! After finishing third in the table, we had the advantage of playing the first leg of semi-final away from home. A satisfying performance against Lincoln followed, winning 4-2 on aggregate and setting us on the short road to Wembley. An interesting venue to use, as 'only' 38,817 turned up to watch us thrash Barnet 3-1 and secure our place in npower League Two. This was a remarkable match, and I thoroughly recommend you watch the highlights embedded above as 'Match of the Season'. We were extremely fortunate to see Barnet reduced to ten men after six minutes, but the goals that followed were of the very highest class. A tremendous effort by us, and this nice little showcase secured The K's league football for the first time in their history.

Once again, we can thank our excellent away form for keeping us in contention. 40 points on the road was the second best record in the league (only behind Wrexham), but I will still be looking for improvements in front of our own fans next season.

Our success was enough for me to secure Blue Square Bet Premier Manager of the Year, and more importantly, a two-year contract extension combined with a £375 per week pay increase.

The trip to Wembley really helped our finances, adding £250k to the club's coffers. Without this much needed income, things would have been looking pretty dismal. Our attendances weren't too bad overall, but we just couldn't make any kind of profit over the course of the season. Increased TV revenue next season though, so the bank manager should be kept happy!

The squad was a lot stronger this season, and even with a few injuries, we still managed to send out a competitive side in every fixture. The signings of Ryan Edwards and Calum McGregor in January really boosted the squad's performances. They both slotted instantly into the first team, and should be able to step up to League Two next season too. That being said, the star of the show was undoubtedly Jordan Thewlis. Even after a eight game baron spell, he still topped the league goalscoring charts, contributing with 32 BSP goals, earning Signing of the Season too. Highlights from the supporting cast include the very able and creative midfield pairing of Adam Forshaw and Stuart O'Keefe. Also, promotion would never have been achieved without Jason Marr, and the afore mentioned Ryan Edwards, putting out the fires in our defence.

Other News

I've had my first job offer of my career. League Two side, Bury, sacked their manager with a handful of games remaining in the season. Offering a bigger wage budget, I decided to stall the offer, and review once I had completed the season with Kingstonian. However, since we've achieved promotion, I decided to reject their tempting offer, committing myself to establishing The K's in the Football League. Bury's financial status was listed as 'insecure', so this was another reason why I've decided to stay put. That being said, my current chairman wants to leave and is trying to sell the club. I'm hoping for a quick and stress-free takeover, but it's probably best to prepare for the worse!

Just gave a quick reading of the career so far. This season's been pretty damn good, particularly considering you barely got promoted into the BSP the previous year, with a freakishly low sum of points. Perhaps there isn't much of a gap between both leagues? Either way, great start for the career.

Bloody hell fire. Thewlis should be renamed BananaBoy or something after that goal. Unbelieveable!

Congratulations on FL status :-) As the CC is seeded, maybe a big Championship side in round 1?

I didn't realise it was seeded. Is that a new thing? So, yeah, from a financial perspective, an away tie to one of the big Championship sides will really help the club finances. Overall, though, I'm not too bothered about the cup competitions. The league is the only priority for next season, so won't be disappointed if we go out in the first round in all three of the cups.

Originally Posted by Azeryk`

Congratulations on the promotion

Originally Posted by B.W.G

Congrats on promotion!!

Thanks Azeryk and B.W.G.

Originally Posted by noikeee

Just gave a quick reading of the career so far. This season's been pretty damn good, particularly considering you barely got promoted into the BSP the previous year, with a freakishly low sum of points. Perhaps there isn't much of a gap between both leagues? Either way, great start for the career.

Cheers noikeee. I'm pretty certain there's not a lot of difference in class between the Blue Square Premier and the Blue Square Regionals. One or two excellent signings can really take the league by storm, and make a huge difference in fortunes for the team. Take Thewlis for example, his goals near enough single-handedly won promotion for us this season. I think it's a bigger step up to League Two though, especially as all the clubs are professional now, so I'm expecting a tougher season ahead.

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Excellent job on successive promotions!

Originally Posted by rancer890

Gratz on promotion AK22. Good luck in League 2!

Originally Posted by cerud

Good job on the back to back promotions AK22! All the best in league play.

Originally Posted by deltablue

Back to back promotions are amazing.

Thanks all Survival will be name of the game next time around. We'll certainly be the smallest fish in the Football League pond, as our reputation has not increased inline with our rise through the leagues. I suppose this is one of the pitfall of back-to-back promotions though, and maybe we just need a season of consolidation to level things out a bit.

Been around for about 5-6 years or so. Only first two rounds are seeded, then it is an open draw. Seeding is simply where you finished the previous year. So in ROund One, the previous 24 Championship clubs, plus those that finished 1-12 in League One are seeded. Round Two is similar in that the top half of teams get seeded (top half being league finishing from previous season). When the draw is made, look at the draw - there will be no Championship v Championship game.

Thanks Nordan Yep, we've just turned pro. My squad are all still on part-time contract though, so I'm going to have to negotiate quite a few contract deals now.

Originally Posted by HotChocolate

Great work this season AK! Are you planning on staying with Kingstonian for a while longer or moving on quickly?

Cheers HC. I've just signed a two year contract extension with the K's, so I'm planning on seeing that out. Once I've established them as a stable Football League club, I'll then review the state of play, and maybe move on. Well, that's the provisional plan at least, I wouldn't rule anything out completely. I'm in no rush to leave, but if I get a good offer, I'm open to some persuasion!

AK22, I got offered the Bury job in my 2nd season aswell, hmmmm I was unemployed at the time though as i resigned as Darlington manager as they squad i inherited was just awful..

I took the Bury job (they were just above relegation in League 2) got to a safe mid tabled position, then acheived promotion the following season and currently in pre-season with'em

Loving this so far, will be an avid reader Good Luck and Well Done!

Coincidence? Or is Richie Barker so carp, he was always going to get sacked eventually?

Hopefully I won't regret turning down their offer. Bury's wage budget is four times bigger than what I've got at Kingstonian, so they're a club definitely with a good chance of getting promotion back to League One. However, I feel quite loyal to Kingstonian, and owe it to the club to give League Two a shot with them first before moving on to another club. Good luck with Bury in your save though

Originally Posted by DazRTaylor

Been around for about 5-6 years or so. Only first two rounds are seeded, then it is an open draw. Seeding is simply where you finished the previous year. So in ROund One, the previous 24 Championship clubs, plus those that finished 1-12 in League One are seeded. Round Two is similar in that the top half of teams get seeded (top half being league finishing from previous season). When the draw is made, look at the draw - there will be no Championship v Championship game.

Thanks roganp. Even if Thewlis can only score half as many goals as he did in the BSP, I'd be delighted. I will be looking to bring in a decent back-up over the summer though, just in case he gets struck down with yellow fever or some other rare disease

Forgot to add, this thread has inspired me to start a new career in BSS. I have done one as Truro but will go with Salisbury as I used to live there. So will share Woking game with my Saints one.

This thread and the San Marino one make me keep checking for updates several times a day! Keep going AK22!

What is your long term goal? I read your career objectives but doesn't state when you will have achieved your goal. CL win?

Do it Daz! Non-league football is so much fun. There's not a lot of talent around, but the matches are certainly entertaining!

Thinking about long term goals, I'd like to win the Champions League on three different continents, and maybe a World Cup victory, but asides from that, I just want to enjoy the save and the teams I manage. I would also like to explore some 'unfashionable' leagues later on in the save, making the most of the add/remove league feature. In particular, I'm quite interested in going to Scandinavia for a while, and the Balkan nations seem quite appealing too. I've also got some unfinished business in South America, due to my failings to win the Copa Libertadores in my FM11 save, so I'd like to go back there at some point. I'm very intrigued by the MLS too, so there's plenty to keep me, and this thread, busy for the foreseeable future!